Tag Archives: signal

The in basket: Dennis Copp writes, “I typically do my shopping
early (0600 hrs.) on the weekends, and have had problems with the
traffic signal at Bucklin Hill Road and Silverdale Way.

“When I come down Bucklin Hill, eastbound in the left-hand lane,
I have to stop at the light in the intersection. At this
early time in the morning there is little to no traffic (major
reason that I shop at that time).

“Even though my car is the only car on the road, the
signal does not change to give me a green light. I have sat
at the light for over five minutes, with NO north-south traffic on
Silverdale Way and the light did not change. Only after
another vehicle came by in the right-hand lane did the light
cycle.

“At other times there have been cars in both the right and left
lanes and we both sat at the light for an abnormally long time,
with no north-south traffic. It has gotten to the point that
I drive several miles out of my way to avoid this intersection.

“The problem at this intersection is probably a faulty
traffic detection loop or the detection module for the
left-hand lane of eastbound Bucklin Hill.

“It would be nice to fix this, as I am sure that others have
been trapped at this signal and I hate to waste gas avoiding the
intersection,” Dennis said.

The out basket: Daren Miller, signal supervisor for Kitsap
County, replies, “Our signal shop supervisor followed up on your
reader’s concern. He went to the intersection and checked all the
signal systems and they were working correctly at the time.

“He did some adjustments to the vehicle detection zone which may
help.

“We use video detection (not in-pavement loops) at this
intersection to detect when a motorist is at a signal. Video
detection can have problems with shadows, fog and other moving
objects that aren’t necessarily a vehicle.

“Even if the equipment is working fine now, we do like to check
the system out at the time the problem occurred. Sometime in
the near future a county employee will drive through this lane to
see what sort of problem he or she encounters. If the system
is working correctly and there are no other vehicles or pedestrians
around, the longest wait time should be well less than a minute.
I would like to thank the reader for bringing this to our
attention.”

The in basket: Dave Richards of Bainbridge Island writes, “It
seems several months ago, the timing of the traffic light at the
corner of 305 and Winslow Way near the Bainbridge Island ferry
terminal was ‘reset’ so that it stays green until pretty much all
the vehicles have driven off the ferry and onto 305.

“This has caused huge backups near the terminal and leaves many
cars trapped in the Diamond Parking lots for upwards of 20 minutes
or more. Would you have any information as to what’s going
on?”

The out basket: Claudia Bingham-Baker of the Olympic Region of
state highways says the change was made November of 2012, and “the
signal system is configured to give off-loading ferry traffic three
minutes of uninterrupted green time at both Harborview Drive and
Winslow Way between 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each weekday.

“After three minutes, the signal then cycles to allow all other
phases to proceed (vehicles and pedestrians) at both intersections.
Then it returns to the three-minute phase for off-loading the
ferry. Rarely will a weekday sailing between 3 p.m. and 7:30
p.m. completely unload in 3 minutes,” she said.

The other directions at those two signals get 123 minutes of
green time combined for cross-traffic and pedestrians between the
three-minute time spans, depending on the detection of traffic.

The three-minutes for off-loading ferry traffic, both the first
one and the second one, aren’t reliant on traffic detection and run
all 180 seconds.

“Since 2008,” she added, “at the request of Ferries, we have
tried various signal timing scenarios to more effectively balance
the needs of local traffic with off-loading ferry traffic. This
current operation seems to work pretty well.

“After we received your question, we checked the system to
ensure it was operating as programmed, and it was,” she said.

The in basket: Tom Wisniewski of Bremerton asks, “Do you know if
the signal at the intersection of Front Street, Bond Road, and
Lindvig Way (in Poulsbo) is on a sensor or a timer? I seem to
spend a lot of time waiting for non-existent traffic to come off of
Bond Road.”

The out basket: Mike Lund, public works supervisor in Poulsbo,
replies, “The Bond Road / Lindvig Way signal is on a timer on the
Bond Road leg of the intersection. This leg of the intersection
has bad (traffic) detection and the controller for the signal
has a few issues.

“There are times that traffic has to sit while there are no cars
but its set for a maximum time of 30 seconds. At no point do
cars have to sit for more than 30 seconds without traffic. This
seems like a long time when you’re the driver sitting there but it
seems to be keeping the traffic in the intersection moving the
best. We have adjusted it to find a happy medium.

“A new controller has been ordered for that intersection and we
are looking at doing radar style traffic detection.

“By May/June this intersection will have all new
equipment and be working properly,” Mike said.

The in basket: Dave Dahlke of Port Orchard writes, “What’s with
the light on Woods Road/Mile Hill Drive? When I went through
there Sunday and Monday mornings it turned red for the east/west
traffic on Mile Hill Drive when there were no cars going north or
south on Woods.”

The out basket: Daren Miller, signal supervisor for Kitsap
County Public Works, says, “Both Mile Hill and Woods Road use video
(traffic) detection. The pluses of video detection is that you have
no problem with detection of motorcycles/bicycles and when you
repave a road you do not have to replace costly detection loops
that are installed in the pavement.

“The drawback of video detection is that if something changes in
the camera’s field of view – shadow across the drive lane
caused by the angle of sun on trees or poles – it will put in a
call to the controller to change the signal.

“Cars are detected because they cause a change in the camera’s
detection field. The south side of Mile Hill at Woods has trees at
the intersection that create shadows at this time of year. We are
working on a solution.”

The in basket: Carole Patterson and Ann Emel think the county
chose the wrong place for the temporary stop light in Silverdale
during the Bucklin Hill Road closure.

“Kitsap County has installed new stop lights at the wrong
intersection of Levin and Ridgetop,” Carole said. “The traffic
backup is at Blaine and Ridgetop. At 6 p.m. today there were nine
cars waiting on Blaine to turn right onto Ridgetop. Is their a
logical explanation?”

Ann wrote, “I remember when I first read in the Kitsap Sun that
a traffic light was going to be

installed at Levin and Ridgetop, my first thought was it just
couldn’t be. Levin would become a dead-end road and Blaine,
which runs behind Safeway, would remain a through
street linking Bucklin and Ridgetop.

“I still don’t see the why of the light at Levin when I see
very, very few cars waiting there to enter onto Ridgetop and most
often six to eight cars lined up on Blaine to do the same
thing.

“Since the light at Levin is now 30 days past predicted install,
why couldn’t that idea be scrapped and a new light put in at Blaine
where it would serve more cars?

The out basket: Tina Nelson, senior program manager for Kitsap
County Public Works, says, “The traffic study that was completed
for the Bucklin Hill bridge project did not indicate that a signal
at Levin and Ridgetop would be beneficial during the
closure. The close proximity to the signal at Mickelberry
would make timing coordination difficult, if even possible.

(But) at public meetings the concern was raised and we
re-visited the situation. There are several businesses off of
Levin and getting in and out of Levin could become a challenge.
Therefore we decided on the temporary signal. We did review
putting one at Blaine, but that is not access to as many
businesses, and having one at each would not work, so there
was the decision to add it at Levin.

“Signal equipment has very long lead time and delivery timing is
not predictable. (That’s) not unique to us, (it’s the) same across
the state and the country. You may recall the delay in
getting the signal running at Ridgetop and SR 303.

“We knew that it was unreasonable to require that the signal be
operational by July 1, but we needed to close the road at that time
to move the project forward, working with fish windows etc.

“We required that the signal be operational by Aug. 14 in the
contract. Initially we thought that we would have it
operational by mid-July, but delivery was delayed, and now it is
finally up and running.”

The in basket: In a visit to Silverdale one recent morning, I
noted that there was no traffic signal on Ridgetop Boulevard at
Levin Road, something I’d understood would be part of the
accommodations for drivers while Bucklin Hill Road is closed.

When I returned home that day, I found the following e-mail from
Laurie LeMay. “Many hours were spent getting the signal installed
and ready to handle the traffic at Levin and Ridgetop,” she wrote.
“It was supposed to be ready at the beginning of the Bucklin Hill
Road closure.

“Then we heard it wouldn’t be installed until July
10. Here it is July 24 and no signal is
installed.

“All the wires are there and the control box but no actual
lights. Can you find out any information on this? It
would really help the workers on Levin if they could get out
onto Ridgetop.”

The out basket: It’s a familiar story with traffic signal
installations – late delivery of needed parts, though this time it
isn’t the poles and cross-arms, the usual culprits.

“The hold-up with the signal is materials,” says Tina Nelson of
Kitsap County Public Works. “We have everything ready to go but the
signal heads. The delivery date has unfortunately been delayed.

“We are monitoring the situation, and are prepared to add a
flagger or two if needed at the intersection of Levin and
Ridgetop.

The in basket: Luella Pellman asks, “Why did they take the stop
light out near the hospital at Lebo and Cherry (in Bremerton) and
put a four-way stop there? Seems like a very busy corner for
just stop signs.”

She wonders if the signal will be replaced.

The out basket: Not unless the corner gets a lot busier.

The old signal there had a lot of problems due to age, with
intermittently non-functioning traffic detectors in the pavement
sometimes creating long delays for those waiting for the signal to
change.

In designing the improvements under way on Old Wheaton Way, “We
completed an analysis of the intersection and found that (our
criteria) did not require the signal to be there,” says Bremerton
city street engineer Gunnar Fridriksson. “Signals are
expensive for installation, typically about $350K,” he said, “plus
yearly maintenance and electrical expenses. So if we do not need
them – we are removing them and saving those costs.

“We are installing new conduits, just as we did at Sixth and
11th on Pacific so should the signals be needed in the future, we
do not need to tear up the roadway to construct it.”

The Road Warrior has been through the intersection several times
since the signals were removed and I have found it to be an
improvement, with little backup of traffic and no waiting for a
signal to change. I’ve not been there at rush hour, but at mid-day,
the all-way stop is very effective.

Gunnar also passed along an analysis of traffic signals that
said they are not the panacea for all problems they’re often taken
for. Among their shortcomings can be detouring traffic onto
less-desirable streets when drivers try to avoid the signal, and
rear-end collisions. You can see it yourself at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part4/part4b.htm#section4B02

The in basket: Ken Richards e-mailed to ask, “Whatever happened
to the traffic light that was going to be installed this summer at
the corner of Hoover Avenue and Lund Avenue. by East Port Orchard
Elementary School?

“I believe it was suppose to be safer for bus traffic as they
returned to their barn and the children (pedestrians) walking on
the side of the road and crossing. Or did the roads
department/county council decide that people are replaceable and
the buses were getting old anyway?”

The out basket: I hadn’t heard of such a plan and the county
says there isn’t one. Ken may be thinking of plans for a new
traffic signal at Harris Road and Lund, a short distance east of
Hoover’s intersection. Or maybe not. Harris doesn’t provide much of
an access to and from the school bus compound.

“There was no traffic signal planned for Hoover and Lund,” says
Jeff Shea, county traffic engineer. “It does not meet the warrants
for a signal. The Lund and Harris intersection remains on the TIP
and is warranted by the increase in traffic at that
intersection.”

But even that one isn’t proposed for this year. It’s on the
county’s six-year road plan (called the TIP) for 2018 at a cost of
$715,000.

The in basket: I often hear from readers who find the
array of traffic signals on eastbound 11th Street at Warren Avenue
in Bremerton confusing. There are four signal heads for three
lanes, and the right-most two control only the outside lane, but
give some drivers the impression going straight in the centermost
eastbound lane is permissible.

It’s not, both inner lanes are for left turns only.

So I was surprised the other day when I spotted two signs beside
the street as I approached the intersection. They said only traffic
in the right lane is allowed to go straight.

I asked Gunnar Fridriksson, Bremerton’s managing street
engineer, if they had recently been added because of comments about
confusion at the intersection, or had they been there since the
intersection was revised a year ago.

The out basket: Another surprise. They’d been there a lot longer
than that. Gunnar said, “Probably put in place 20-plus years ago
when the lanes were originally configured (with) the two lanes
being left turning. Been there all this time.”

He’s remarked before that the recent revision didn’t change the
number of signal heads or what lanes they control. For some reason,
confusion among drivers increased when the heads no longer hung
from wires, but are installed on metal poles.

“The problem with signs,” he said, “if you are not looking for
them – they tend not to be noticed. (That’s) why I am not a
proponent for adding to the clutter.”

He then sent along a public service video intended to raise
consciousness about driver’s watching out for bicycles, but also
illustrating that things in plain sight can go unnoticed if you’re
watching for something else.

Perhaps you’ve seen it. It involves a bunch of people tossing
basketballs around, and you are challenged to count the number of
passes the ones dressed in white make. A man in a bear suit walks
through the milling players, moon-walking part of the way, and I’m
sure goes unnoticed – the first time – by the vast majority of
those who see it and are occupied counting passes. I didn’t see
him, even though I’d seen the video before.

Google ‘moonwalking bear” if you want to test your awareness.
Even forewarned, you may be surprised.